Sadly that happiness diminished upon our arrival at our Alanya hotel in 40C heat.
It was so disappointing to find our room air-conditioning not working but after reassurances from the manager that when we return from dinner all would be good.
The popular Turkish saying “no problem” was alive and well but not the a/c.
A room change was decided so we re-packed and moved only to find room two had the same problem. The 'technician' fiddled, scratched his head and pondered while we sweated some more.
We were moved once again although that time...

Nov 4, Alanya
The approach to Alanya in the early morning was stunning. Grammar and I were up on the top deck sketching and photographing as we came into port.
The town is dominated by a steep hill that has a remarkable fort on it built by Seljuk Aladdin Kaykubat in 1220 AD as his winter residence. Before that time, the natural port was held first by pirates and then by Roman soldiers.
Myrna, Grammar and I hiked up from the ship, past the Red Tower, to the Citadel at the top of the hill. We wondered why they needed to build walls on the top...

Today we went on a Jeep Safari, kindly recommended and organised for us by John. We thought we were going to Sapadere Canyon – in fact we went to Dim Cave but the mistake didn’t matter a bit!
We were picked up this morning at the entrance to the campground and taken to the tour office in Alanya. There we left in five 4x4 jeeps heading for the Taurus mountains behind Alanya. We were the only “English” on the trip – though we were divided into Russian and English speaking groups for the guide instructions. The roads the jeeps take are winding...

Hello everybody! No messages from anybody thinking we might have been kidnapped/hijacked!! Perhaps no-one is reading our blog any more :(
The last several days have been more of the same, mostly lovely sunny days we have spent lazing around on the beach, with the occasional walk or dolmuş trip to the markets or just to see the sights. One day we were invited to Koray and Veronika’s house for coffee and cake; they live in a terrace house on the hill with a stunning view overlooking the beach. We made new friends John and Marja from Rotterdam...

Time flies when you’re having fun. More days filled with sunshine, lounging on the beach and lots of swimming. On Friday Koray kindly offered to assist us in getting David’s laptop fixed and we three caught the Dolmuş into Alanya Centrum to a computer shop he recommended, Pro-Set, and he explained to them the work we wanted done. We then walked to the boat harbour and booked a tour for Monday before catching the Dolmuş back.
We drove into Alanyum on Saturday, did some shopping at Carrefour then walked along to the Kipa supermarket to stock...

The campground has started to get busier, and we have met some new motor homers, Hans and Gertrud from Germany who are travelling west, and Kevin and his Turkish wife Nurçan, from the UK who are heading for Cyprus. Both stayed only for one night but we enjoyed getting to know them and swapping travel stories. We have also had visits from Koray Tezcan, the ex-president of the Turkish Camping Club, who has been very helpful and informative. Other visits have been from a German couple who live in Ecem Apartments (where we stayed for 3 weeks)...

Another week has passed and we have been taking a holiday from our holiday! Each day has been beautiful and we have walked the few steps to the beach and spent time on the loungers and swimming – what luxury! Yesterday we had a trip to town in Homer, went to Alanyum shopping centre for a supermarket shop, and while there David persuaded me to buy a bikini. Gasp…shock…horror!!! But here all shapes and sizes wear bikinis, and some of the men have to be seen to be believed. After this little spree we went back to visit Ken and Ayşe and check...

Sunday was a gorgeous day and we spent some time on the beach on the loungers reading and we had our first swim. The water was lovely once we were in!
Monday was market day and we had to dodge showers to go and buy our vegetables. The apartment we’ve been staying in has been rented and the new tenants are moving in on Wednesday, so today we moved back up the road to Perle Camping. We are sad to farewell the tortoises in the garden and our three-legged doggy friend, Tequila, from next door. It was nice to have the space of the apartment and...

We have spent another lovely week at the apartment, enjoying relaxing, reading and taking more walks. The temperature is warm and we have had some stunning days. One day we took a long walk (a couple of hours) away from Alanya central along the beach front, resting for a while at a café on the beach for hamburgers and drinks. We also trialled the exercise equipment - these machines are often found in parks and along popular walking trails. We saw lots of lizards along the sea wall, enjoying the sunshine.
Ayşe arrived back from up north...

The weather over the past several days has been changeable, sometimes beautiful days and sometimes cold and windy. We have done a lot of walking; into Alanya, around Oba where we are staying and along the beach.
On Monday our new friends from Fethiye, Don and Maureen came to stay at Perle Camping, and we spent some time with them walking around Alanya and visiting the Castle. Ken drove us up to the Castle and dropped us near the top, and after having a good look round we walked a short way down the castle road, had some lunch then caught a...

About mid-day on Saturday we left Perle Camping and drove the 10 mins or so back towards Alanya to Ken and Ayşe’s, and moved into the downstairs apartment. So much space! In the afternoon we went for a short walk with Ken and the weather turned cold and we got soaked in a heavy shower. It was cold enough that we had to have the heat pump on and that night there was a thunderstorm and the power went off for a while.
On Sunday we spent a lazy day; it was fine but windy and we had lunch with Ken outside on the patio.
Today was a lovely sunny...